Elevator-brake.



A. B. SEE.

' ELEvATon BRAKE. (Appumion am vApr. 15, 1901.)

"Patented July 9, Ism.

annum WITNESSES: 3i

UNrrnD STATES armar rrrcn.

ALONZO B. SEE, OF BROOKLYN, NEV YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO WALTER L. TYLER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

ELEVATOR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters atent No. 678,352, dated July 9, 1901. Application filed April 15, 190].. Serial No. 55,824. (No model.)

T @ZZ-whom, it may concern: would stop the car too suddenly and the s ame Be it known that I, ALONZO B. SEE, a citijarring would take place. zen of the United States, residing at the city The present invention provides for applyof New York,in the borough of Brooklyn and ing first a small weight to the brake, which 5 Stateof NewYork, have invented certain new for small loads or loads up to the average and useful ImprovementsinElevator-Brakes, will be sufficient to stop and hold the car, and of which the following is a full, clear, and exshortly thereafter applying an additional act description. Weight, which becomes useful only in case This invention Vrelates to friction-brakes, there is a heavy load in the car and which 6o 1o and is designed for the purpose of providing operates only after the irstweight has parmeans for bringing a moving vehicle to an tially retarded the car. Thus the car, regardaccurate stop without jarring or seriously disless of its load,is stopped accurately and withturbing the lading regardless of the Weight out jarring. thereof. My improvedbrake is specially de- The invention will be described in detail 15. signed for use in connection with elevators in connection with the accompanying drawwherein the actuating-machine is use-d to reings, in which- Figure l is an elevation, partly in section,

f tard and stop the car as well as to propel it. Y

of the mechanism constituting my invention.

It is the usual practice to provide in connection with such machines a brake which is ap- Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the power-cylin- 7o der and weights. Fig. 3 is a plan of one of zo plied at the moment when the actuating-machine has stopped or nearly stopped the car the weights, and Fig. A is a modification of the invention.'

in order to overcome the remaining inertia and to hold the car at the point where it is A represents a wheel or disk to which the braking forcepis applied, said wheel being l stopped. A commony form of brake for this mounted on the shaft of the elevator-machine.

25 purpose consists of a pair of straps or a sina and a' are two strap-levers or brakeshoes gle strap embracing the rim of a disk or drum i and caused to grip the disk by means of a adapted to bear against opposite sides of the disk and being pivoted at a2. 8o

weight hanging upon a lever, the brakebeb is a lever pivoted at b' and having a crossing released by any suitable means, such as 3o electromagnetic or pneumatic devices for lifthead, to the opposite ends of which the links c and c are connected, said links being coning the weight. The braking force used 1n such a brake is therefore a constant force and nected'at their opposite ends with the free ends of the straps a and a'. These links are 85 i exerts the same braking stress in all cases readjustable in length by means of the threadf gardless of the load in the elevator. In slow- 5 speed elevators such a brake is very service- .ed socket c? for the purpose of adjusting the position of the levers a and ct. The free end able and satisfactory, since the amount of of lever b carries a cross-pin e, which supf weight can be easily calculated to bring the elevator to an accurate stop regardless of the ports a rod f, and upon the rod are supported 9o one or more weights w in the form of disks,

2 load in the car; but in high-speed elevators 4o difficulty has been encountered in using such the center of the weights being perforated to allow the rod f to pass through them and the brakes in that when the load in the car is above the average the weight is insufficient weights being directly supported by a pin f', passing through one of a number of lateral to bring it to an accurate stop or after practically stoppin g the car will sag and move beperforations f2. These weights therefore, unless otherwise supported, exert a down- 45 low the landing. lf a heavier weight is used to prevent this, the high-speed car will be ward force upon the lever b.

g is an air-cylinder containing a piston g' brought to a stop too suddenly, which will 5f result in giving an unpleasant shock to the and having a port 'g2 for the inlet and exhaust roo of air. From the upper side of the piston Y passengers. On the other hand,if the car is there projects a central lug g3, upon which 5o movingwith a light load a: weight which would stop it accurately with a heavy load rests one or more weights w of the same character as the weights to. Fixed to each side of the projection g3 or to the end of the piston itself are two upwardly-extending parallel arms 7L and h. These pass through rectangular holes 102 in all of the weights and engage with the ends of the pin c, there being slots h2 in the end of each arm, into which said pin projects. It will therefore be seen that when there is no pressure beneath the pistou g the piston and the weights w' will be supported by the pin e and will exert a downward force upon the lever Z). The weights zt-are perforated centrally and are similar in construction to the weights w, so that one or more of the lower weights can be transferred to the upper group, and vice Versa, by properly adjusting the pin f in the holes f2.

In the position shown in the drawings both groups of weights are supported from the end of the lever l), and the brake-levers a and a' are held with a maximum pressure against the disk A. To release the brake, pressure is admitted beneath the piston g. This results in first lifting the weights w, the arms 71 and 7L traveling upward with respect to the pin e. As soon as the pin strikes the lower ends of slots h2 the weights w are also lifted, and the force being entirely removed from lever?) the brake is released. This successive removal of the weights takes place quickly and to all practical purposes is simultaneously accomplished. To apply the brake, the pressure is exhausted from cylinder g, whereupon the piston lowers and leaves the weights w hanging upon the lever b, pending the traverse of the pin e through the slots h2. Weights w therefore exert their force to apply the brake, which, in case the car contains only a light or the average load, will sui'lice to stop the car; but immediately thereafter the upper ends of the slots h2 engage the pin e and bring the additional weight w to bear upon lever b, which, in case the car is heavily loaded, will bring it to a stop and hold it stationary. The action of the first weight is suiiiciently gentle to avoid jarring the lightly-loaded car and yet is suiicient to retard a heavily-loaded car, so that the second weight will complete the stop without a jar. In all applications of the brake both weights eventually act upon the lever of the brake; but the second weight is necessary only for theheavier loads. It is obvious that a larger number of weights may be used in each group and that the number or amount of weights in the respective groups can be altered to meet special conditions by shifting the weights in the manner hereinbefore described.

In Fig. -1 I have illustrated a modification of my invention Therein the brake is applied by the successive application of weights, but

Vin releasing the brakes the total weight islifted at once, there being no lost motion such asis created by the slot 7b2 in the form shown in Fig. l. In Fig. 3 one lof the weights is indicated bythe piston p', located in the cylinder p. The piston-rod p2 connects directly with the lever b, but is provided with a collar p3 to receive and sustain a second weight q, adapted to slide upon the piston-rod. The weight q is attached to the pistons r by two dash-pots 1", air being admitted to the dash -pots on the upstroke of the piston through the valve r2 and entrapped therein on the downstroke. The drawing shows both weights supported upon the piston-rod p2 and the brakes applied. To release the brake, pressure is admitted to cylinderp, and both weights are raised simultaneously, thus at once releasing the pressure from the brakeshoes. In applying the brake the pressure is suddenly exhausted from cylinder p, which permits the weight p to fall quickly, while the weight q is retarded by the air-cushions beneath the pistons r. The weight q therefore does not exert any force upon the lever Z) until it is lowered into contact with the collar p3, which it is finally permitted to do by reason of the escape of air from the cylinder r' past the pistons r. Then both weights hang from the lever and maximum braking force is applied.

Having described my invention, I claim` 1. In a friction-brake, the combination of a plurality of weights, and means whereby they may be successively applied to increase the friction of the brake in the application thereof.

2. In a friction-brake, the combination of a pivoted lever connected with the brakeshoes, a plurality of weights adapted to be suspended from said lever for the purpose of applying the brake, and means whereby said weights will be successively thrown onto the lever, substantially as described.

3. In a friction-brake, the combination of a lever connected with the brake-shoes, a piston, two weights adapted to act successively upon the lever to apply the brake, and means whereby the piston will remove the Weights from the lever, substantially as described.

4. In a friction-brake, the combination of a lever connected with the brake-shoes, a plurality of weights adapted to be successively applied to said lever, and means whereby the weights may be substantially simultaneously released from said lever.

In witness whereof I subscribe my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ALoNzo n. SEE.

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